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OFFICIAL PUBLICATION
Manufacturer responsibility
With responsibility comes such things as educating the market – and rather walking away from deals that do not fit a business offering .
Too often these days once-off deals are grabbed because of ‘ economic times ’ – but this has significant long-term impact on the industry as a whole owing to the bad light that is shone on it in future . Maximising profits from naïve customers is short sighted and opens up the door to where industrycredibility overall comes under question .
“ Unfortunately , many consumers still have a mindset that they have X amount of money to spend . So , manufacturers and suppliers need to put it out there that they understand their client ’ s budget but they also need to take into consideration benefits and shortfalls that will be realised over time . If clients can spend as little as 10 % more , what is the value that they are going to get out of that additional investment long term ? – which is more significant than people think . This action is also linked directly to the sincerity of a business . We like to encourage clients to challenge the data or specs because very often it happens that buyers just believe everything they are told , and this is where manufacturers capitalise on people ’ s lack of technical knowledge - because it ' s an extra sale . Most of the time that engagement ends in clients walking away and being unhappy because they were not made aware of all of the aspects of their purchase . The reality is that word of mouth , especially when things go wrong , is very dangerous for businesses ,” says Lena le Roux – managing director at Staycold International .
Clients are however today starting to ask the right questions and a lot of knowledge is getting pushed through , and so far , more consideration is being applied as to what clients are actually buying and why they are buying – rather than the typical action of selecting the purchase based on what the bottom of the quote indicates .
“ Understanding what is important to the client should also be top of mind . Be that technology or innovation , energy efficiency , or even selection of environmentally friendly products ? What is the client ’ s application ? Our strategy has always been to advise that clients think about several factors before just going out and buying , and tied to that is our philosophy that if we cannot service their demand , we are not the right supplier . The responsibility in the education process starts off with what manufacturers can and cannot supply or should not supply . In my view , very few manufacturers understand that responsibility and more so ‘ stepping away ’ from certain sales - falling into that trap because of ‘ meeting targets ’,” le Roux continues .
Staycold International showcased their green credentials at the recent FRIGAIR exhibition which is but one of their strong points – particularly their Pathway to Net Zero which has become a major contributing
in the sector
Staycold International | PelePele Marketing
By Benjamin Brits
Sebastian Hills , sales and marketing manager and Lena le Roux , managing director from Staycold International discussing the right approach for manufacturers at the recent FRIGAIR exhibition with publication editor in chief Benjamin Brits .
factor for purchasing decisions of late – as well as the use of natural refrigerants . Their range includes the use of R290 ( hydrocarbon ) refrigerants as one of the most environmentally friendly gasses for the sector , and caters to a wide range of temperatures – from coolers to freezers demonstrating the excellent capability of this refrigerant type that is still considered “ a risk ” to work with owing to its flammability . This point is however moot according to le Roux as she insists that all that is required to bring technicians up to speed with this gas is training , training , and more training – which is already part of HVACR learning centre courses nationally .
From a technology perspective IoT has also pushed the possibilities of unit management even further according to Sebastian Hills – sales and marketing manager at Staycold International . “ We have recently partnered with Digital Twin to be able to offer even more to our clients . Units can be linked to the cloud . Data coming through and ‘ interactions ’ with the cooler could include location , current temperature , and even the amount of times doors have been opened , etc . This type of information for clients that have fleets of thousands of units becomes valuable because innovation allows owners the ability to not only verify their units ’ existence , but control them based on specific environmental conditions , track the sale of goods , manage stock and even switch internal lights on and off – if a fridge door with X product is opened 5000 times a month , this may indicate a trend that can be pinpointed and investigated . In addition , for contractors this technology allows proactive planning of service requirements in real time as opposed to reactive maintenance .”
Hills , talking also to the safety factor concerns around R290 added that in reality , display fridges and coolers only contain about 150 grams of refrigerant in a closed-circuit system and what that means from a visual perspective is that is the equivalent of about three standard pocket lighters . Any " catastrophic explosions " would be incredibly rare , but the risk should still be managed through thorough risk analysis and educated thought . Secondly – a simple test of risk would come from the continual topping up of such systems which would indicate a leak that needs to be fixed rather than ignored . Naturally , larger propane systems must be accompanied with the necessary care , for the record , and existing safety standards already eliminate most of the risks when working with all flammable refrigerants . Educating clients in this regard from a manufacturers point of view is also critical .
“ We are very proud of the strides we are making on all fronts in our business including energy consumption , environmental sustainability , international accreditation of our products , and educating our clients . African markets have shown a definite lack of understanding and I urge those in procurement to engage on all of the considerations around selecting products . ‘ Fear mongering ’ is a tactic used to direct markets in a specific way and may not have any long-term plausibility – such as the fear of flammable refrigerants which is mostly unjustified . In addition , products need to perform – so when you see things like condensation of fogged doors whose spec is not fit for high humidity conditions – these are the types of things that one can look at to identify if your supplier has done their own correct evaluation of the client needs ,” le Roux concludes . CLA
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